The drive device serves for driving the motor vehicle, thus in this regard, supplying a torque directed at driving the motor vehicle. The torque is supplied by the drive device to the driven shaft, which is coupled to at least one driven or drivable wheel, respectively, of the motor vehicle. The operative connection between the driven shaft and the at least one wheel may be present as basically rigid, and/or permanent or only temporary by way of a shift clutch. Preferably, the driven shaft is coupled, more preferably permanently coupled, to one wheel axle of the motor vehicle or to a plurality of wheels provided on this wheel axle, respectively, in particular, by way of at least one differential.
The drive device provides a plurality of drive assemblies, i.e., at least the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly. Both the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly can each be coupled to the driven shaft. Also, an intermediate clutch is provided between the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly, the two drive assemblies being able to be coupled to each other by means of this clutch. In a first shift position of the intermediate clutch, an operative connection is present between the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly; in this regard, in particular, the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly are rigidly coupled to one another. In a second shift position of the intermediate clutch, in contrast, the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly are decoupled from one another, in particular, completely decoupled from one another.
Preferably, the driven shaft can be separately coupled to the second drive assembly, whereas the coupling of the driven shaft to the first drive assembly is possible exclusively together with the second drive assembly and/or by way of the second drive assembly. In this regard, the driven shaft is either coupled to the second drive assembly while it is decoupled from the first drive assembly, or it is coupled to both the first drive assembly and also to the second drive assembly. The torque supplied to the driven shaft is thus either supplied by the second drive assembly alone, or by both the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly together.